Packing Less

You know my laptop is from 2008, it's a MacBook Pro, and while I've upgraded the hard drive to a 1 TB SSD, it's otherwise original hardware. I've upgraded the OS each time there is a new version, and it can edit my GoPro video run Tableau and a host of other programs. It runs virtual machines just fine and still has a decent battery life. I'm pretty sure this will be my last laptop. When I travel these days, I just bring my iPad mini. It can do just about everything I need, including run VMware View or Remote Desktop apps that get me back to my office machine or any other computer or server for that matter. I love traveling with as little as I can and yet having complete access to everything. Sometimes I do wish I had a little bit bigger screen, but most of the time I'm happy it fits in my suit pocket.

For a long time I was the guy that packed every cable and device, because, you know, I just might need it. Now my wife typically packs my bags for me and I'm okay with not having something, mostly because I don't have to pack. The other reality that has hit me; I rarely use all the things I pack. I guess for me it's harder to leave things behind, but when my wife does, for some reason I'm okay with it.

On our last family trip a few weeks ago, this did become a real issue, we only brought one charging cable for 2 iPads, 2 iPhones and an iPod. This was an issue, so you know what we did? Yeah, we bought one at Amazon and had it the next day. Man it was a long night, no not really. Turns out even if you do leave things at home, the world is much smaller than ever before. Even if they don't have it in the town you are traveling too, Amazon likely can have it there in a day or two.

The other great thing about packing less, everything fits in a carry on. Oh, that, and it's way easier to get around an airport with one bag than 2 or 3. Try it it out, you probably won't miss that laptop or extra battery for it either.